Middle Ages Research Project 

Jaslyn Romero

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

April 8, 2022

The Tragic Middle Ages 

Introduction

 In past  lots of sad and tragic events happened in the Middle Ages.There was a government system that everyone had to follow,and was not very fair to everyone.Lots of crimes happened ,and to many harsh punishments took place.Even with all that they were going through  their health was even worse than that,there were many sicknesses and the worst one yet was the black death or the plague which ended many lives more than the thirds population.All of this happened throughout the sad and tragic times of the Middle Ages.

Feudalism

The government system used in the Middle Ages is called the feudal system. “Feudalism was built upon a relationship of obligation and mutual service between vassals and the lords” (Ross) .Feudalism was a government system where there was kings,nobles,knights,and serfs.It started at the top with the kings and ended off at the end to the serfs.The king was to top of the top,but he could not keep the land controlled so he had to divide all the land up with barons.If the king would die then his firstborn son would take his place or take over.There was bishops too,they were the leader of the church in the kingdom.The Catholic Church was very powerful which made the bishop power to.The Church also got 10% from the people which ends up making the bishop very wealthy.The next people in the system were the nobles.The nobles were very loyal because their job was to control an army.Whenever they did not have an army they would have to end up paying the king taxes which was called shield money.After the nobles came the knights in the feudal system.Now the knights job was to be ready for when they were called for battle.The people on the bottom of the system are serfs.Some say the serfs are considered slaves because they did hard work.Most people were serfs back then.There were two different types of serfs in the Middle Ages.Some had a free life to work as a baker,or a carpenter etc,not all were lucky though because the other kind of serfs had a rough life.They had to works long days,and if they were lucky they would have atleast something to eat everyday or even survive.That is how the feudal system worked back then,now if you ask me that’s not really fair system but I guess it worked for them.There was a way to move up in the system though it would be very hard,one is to marry someone who was at a higher ranking than you.If there were feudalsystem today I think it would maybe work,but not sure if anyone would like it because of how sad or hard some people had to work. 

Crime and Punishments 

“A criminal was someone who by doing something wrong, had disturbed the king's peace"(Crime…).The lords were in charge for making punishments with minor crimes.When there were any serious crimes the king himself and his lawyers would choose a punishment.The condictions were very dirty in the middle ages so sometimes prisoners would die even before the trial.There were many different types punishments,and some were considered to be more harsh than others but it all depends on what you did.The types of punishments were beheaded,limbs cut off,right hands were cut off,burned alive,and eyes were burned out.Of course there was more punishments than that but those are just some of them.The crimes in the Middle Ages were highway robbery,stealing livestock,treason,or murder.In the gaol which means jail the prisoners would rely on their family and friends to bring them some money or some food because if they don’t then the prisoner would starve and end up dying.An executions were in public and were often watched by a large group of people.Before the law said that slaves could only be tortured or punished.The law did end up changing and then all free men could be tortured for commiting crimes.There were lots of bad punishments and all were a bit harsh so if anyone was asking were they harsh well they were because there were so many were you died or you got one of your body parts cut off,and which could be scary because there are so many different kinds but all of them were bad.

Health 

“Disease and sickness were very common in the Middle Ages.”(Medicine..)Lots of people lived very close maybe even too close to each other and didn’t understand the importance of hygiene.People believed that the cause of some diseases were bad odor.Some even thought that it had to do with sin in there souls,so they always medicated or prayed when they could.When the population of the people kept growing their hygiene was getting worse.Some of the more common diseases were smallpox, leprosy, measles,and typhus.The worse disease was the bubonic plague or the black death.The black death killed lots of people more than the third of the population died from it.Almost every disease they came across to had no unknown causes. 

They say that the disease was spread through the fleas of the rats.The plague made black splotches on the body of the people who got sick of the plague.The doctors thought that it would help if they set up quarantines,but it didn’t help because the fleas from the rat were still spreading quickly.Also because the medical knowledge was limited they did not have a good healthcare system.Early surgery, often done by barbers without anesthesia, must have been excruciating.Sadly most of the time medical help was only available to the rich people that live in the village.People thought sneezing, were the best way of maintaining health since they couldn’t really do anything else.Bloodletting was also a  popular method of restoring a patient's health.Finally antibiotics were invented in the 1800s and it was almost impossible to cure diseases without them.So I guess you could say that they suffered a sad life considering how bad their health was,and if you compared to now the health is a lot better than it was before.

Conclusion 

Lots of things occurred in the Middle Ages, like a government system that helped put everyone in order though not fair, and very harsh punishments took place.Or how tragic diseases ended killing lots of people.Yet there's still much more things to learn about the tragic Middle Ages.

Works Cited 

“Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages.” Camelot International. www.camelot 

tl.com/village/cr im E .html Accessed 07 February 2022.

“Health: What was it really like to live in the Middle Ages?” Annenberg Learner. www.learner.org/ser ie s 

/interactive-the-middle-ages/ https://www.learner.org/series/interactive-the-middle-ages/ 

Accessed 21 February 2022.

“Medicine and Health in the Middle Ages.” Dose Spot. https://www.dosespot.com/medici ne-and-health - 

in-the-middle-ages.html#:~:text=Disease%20and%20 sickness%20were%20 very,known%2 0 as %20the%20Black%20Death Accessed 21 February 2022.

“Middle Ages Feudal System.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feudal_system.php    

Accessed 07 February 2022.

Nash, Tim. “Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages.” The Finer Times. www.thefinertimes.com/cri me 

-and-punishment-in-the-middle-age Accessed 07 February 2022. 

Ross, David. “Feudalism and Medieval Life.” Brittain Express. www.britainexpress ess.com/History/Feudali

m  and_Medieval life.htm Accessed 07 February 2022.